Life is Beautiful
by NarutoSkully
Summary: Naruto is a coroner working in Mississippi with a dark past. He depends on his "unlicensed therapist" Sakura and his bottle of "Senior Jose" to keep him sane, until a young suicide case gets him closer to his demons than he'd like to be. NaruSasu
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Naruto.

A/N: Second chapter of a multi-chapter I started over a year ago. I have it up everywhere but here, heh. I do not have any plans for the third chapter as of yet, the ones I had got completely changed. So please no pressuring for a third chapter. I'll do it when I get the inspiration.

Inspired from a book i chose to read for Eng AND the song "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx AM...mostly from the book though. PLUS i wanted to write something from my own region's point of view, yes? instead of somewhere I've NEVER personally been. So welcome, y'all, to Mississippi. :B If the accents bother you, I'm sorry, it's a part of the culture.

**Warning for violent scenes. **Also there will be yaoi-themes later in this story. Not so much in the first two chapters though.

* * *

A series of dings signaled the opening of the twin metal doors. The young man exited the metal box, sliding his hands into his jacket pockets. Dulled blue tennis shoes made light, plush noises on the dark, worn carpet as the owner of said shoes, made his way down the hallway.

Blonde locks trembled with each step. Blue eyes slid down to lock onto the carpet save for glancing at the golden numbers on the doors that passed. The dim bulbs and the aged, yellowing wallpaper gave the hall a fitting gloomy appearance.

His hands stayed in the pockets of his black, light jacket that the slightly chilled air had been just cold enough to make him want to wear. Glinting keys jingled alongside the gun holster keeping his 9mm Glock secured at his hip. The blonde's stroll was at a normal pace, yet it seemed strained like he was forcing himself to keep going.

Azure irises framed by purpled-lids lifted to the tarnished golden numbers on the door he was now stopped at.

_'346'_

He slowly turned his head to the opposing side. There, the door to 347 stood open and the sounds of bustling inside told him he'd found the right room.

As if the blood tingeing the carpet didn't make it obvious enough.

With a light sigh, the blonde entered the room and was instantly approached by a brunette. "Hey, Kiba," came the short greeting from the blonde. He gave a small smile one would call grave, but that'd be a sad pun. "What've we got exactly?"

Kiba wore a similar expression as he replied, "This one's particularly nasty, bud." A light pause. "Are you ready?"

"You're just a deputy...you forget that I've seen way worse even before you joined us." The blonde returned, shifting his hands from his pockets to take the notepad his deputy was holding. He perused it as he followed the other into the bedroom.

"Nah, Naruto, not like this..." Kiba said. As soon as he had, the blonde had read over it, scrawled in his deputy's handwriting..

'Victim(s): 26-year old Mother, 5-year old daughter, and 4-month? newborn son'

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction and he was reluctant to raise them to the scene on the bed. He wrenched them from the notepad and a light gasp escaped his parted lips.

"The light was smashed.....from a struggle we're guessing, so it may be hard to see."

A blood-soaked hotel bed was what first registered in the viewer's mind, but then as startled eyes became used to the dim light, three shapes appeared. The bodies were so mangled and covered in so much of their own former life-source; it was hard to tell them apart from the sheets around them.

A tanned hand lifted to cover the blonde's trembling mouth. He turned his gaze, swallowing hard before taking his bag off his shoulder and setting it on the ground.

Kiba kneeled alongside his companion, pulling out the things from his own bag. The police officers in the room were slowly investigating the rooms, all wearing grim expressions. Some had to pause to swallow their emotions before continuing to work. The whole hotel room was so thick with this air, it was like drowning.

Keeping his eyes on the hands emptying his bag, Naruto asked in a low voice. "Has the guy been caught?"

The brunette looked up, then back down to his own bag. "Yeah...thankfully he spent too much time in here. These guys caught him before he could even leave the hall."

"Good," Came the short, bitten-off reply. The blonde popped each of his gloves as he slipped them on. Standing up, he took his few tools with him to the bed.

Coroners were given the advice that it wasn't wise to get too close to the victims they were examining. Treat them as more than a corpse, but don't get so attached that either the examiner is forced into an asylum or...even worse...is to be the next case on their fellow medical examiners' hands.

Naruto Uzumaki never took advice well. Every one of his patients was treated as though they had just been laughing over dinner with him the night before. Every one of their deaths could have been prevented by him. Every one of their lives was his own.

This felt better to him though, he wouldn't have it any other way. To him, he had to give them the final respect and care they deserved, or else, no one would.

So, as he gave each one of the mangled bodies on the bed a thorough look-over, the woman was his sister, the children were his niece and nephew; he had been standing in this room as they died. He could see it all play out in his head.

The more coagulated wounds on the woman were on her arms, meaning she put up a fight. _She probably died saving her babies._ The stab-wounds in her chest were most likely the cause of death. He also noticed there were multiple wounds that had not bled as much. _Postmortem wounds....the bastard._ He gestured for Kiba and together, they placed her in the body bag and handed her to two officers.

He moved to the children, his breath hitching in his throat. The newborn was inches away from his older sister. Her hands were thrown out ahead of her and she was the only one face-down. _She died protecting her baby brother._ A tear slid down a scarred cheek. Her wounds were mostly on her back, as expected. Her brother had one slash going down the length of his tiny abdomen. _At least it was quick_. He gestured again and the two were put into the smaller body bags.

Child-sized.

_Why did they even have to make that size?_

Naruto picked up his few, scattered tools and cleaned up his things, leaving the rest to the officers. Kiba would drive the bodies to the morgue and Naruto would have to do the autopsies tomorrow. This was how it usually went. The only things that changed were the victims and how they died. He rolled down the sleeves to his jacket and straightened out his polo.

He gave a slow, somber wave to the officers as he lifted his bag to his shoulder and turned to leave. Kiba gave a slow pat to his back.

"You need to join us to decompress at the Waffle Hizzle?" The deputy asked with upturned brows.

The blonde turned to him, a sad grin on his face. "Nah, I think I'll turn to my therapist tonight."

"Decompressing" is a term common to most people working in this field. A group of team members gather to talk to each other as a way of lifting spirits. It worked well in making sure everyone returned to their job the next day. The blonde and brunette pair's favorite was the Waffle House that they lovingly deemed the "Waffle Hizzle" with homage to the great Snoop Dogg that neither listened to.

It came in even greater use during the disaster known as Katrina.

When you've seen decaying and bloated bodies floating around in their former homes, you need some place to swallow the experiences. The Waffle House settled in Gulfport became especially endearing.

Naruto had been called down after it was clear that the amount of deaths couldn't be taken care of effectively with the few crew members they had. The young man found himself volunteering for DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) before he had even had a year to settle into his newly appointed Coroner position back in Rankin County.

That bitch of a storm had taken out most of the Gulf Coastline and left nothing but loss in her wake. Even people as far North as Tupelo, Mississippi had felt some of her wrath. Naruto's own apartment had lost half of its shingles and a few trees from the lawn outside.

The people on the coast that had been working on it, were hauling bodies out by the truckloads, and that's being literal. Everyone was bogged down not only from recovering bodies, but with all the missing persons' reports that were filed by the hundreds daily.

Each day for weeks on end consisted of Naruto ignoring the searing wet-heat of Southern Mississippi and mosquitoes the size of small birds to muck around the stagnant water and look for the corpses it hid. Many times, he'd fight the lurching of his stomach as his team opened a car door to find the festering bodies of a former family.

He would also have to deal with mourning families that insisted on riding with him when he went in search of their loved-ones. There wails and sobs hit him harder than they let him see. Not to mention avoiding being arrested for assaulting the many lazy politicians that only showed up to get their face on TV as 'fighting to salvage the Coast.'

Horrible smells, sights, feelings, people... it was all wearing and possibly the roughest time the blonde would ever have the pain of going through.

"Naruto...oh my god...are you okay?" A young woman gasped as she answered her cell phone to the sound of a strangled, "Sakura, I need your help."

The man on the other side shifted in his seat, nudging his shoes of with his toes. His hand rubbed slowly against his forehead. "I'll be fine...I just need to talk to my unlicensed therapist." He replied with a dry laugh, though his voice had snagged on the sentence.

Sakura listened on with a focused ear, as she always did. They had been best friends since middle school and were even dating for a time. It had of course, ended, but Sakura stayed close. She knew she was the only one keeping her friend in some sort of stable state.

Naruto explained in vivid detail the knowledge of the crime he had, with little gasps slipping from her side at random intervals.

"Why're there people like that in the world, Sakura? I feel horrible when I realize I'm too used to most of my patients being victims of a petty robbery or gang fight. ....But..." He paused, pulling in a slow breath. "I'd rather get used to it then have harsh reminders like this around that not all my crimes'll... b-be petty." A shuddering sigh rattled through his chest before he took a long gulp from his Jose Cuervo bottle, the warm liquid helping to steady his breathing.

"....I really don't know, Naruto. It ain't gonna stop any time soon though. ...I do know that. ...There's nothing we can do to stop this sort of thing." She replied, nervously running her fingers through pink-dyed strands. She jerked in her seat from the sudden, loud sound she heard through the receiver.

Naruto pulled his hand back from the crumbling wall and took another swig from the bottle, "But I _want_ to... I really do." He set the bottle down harder than he meant to. "Ever since I learned how precious life can be..." He ran a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away the painful memories that were threatening to surface. He slouched forward with a soft sigh in the plush, back chair.

"I know...I know...Naruto...Just calm down. Go lie down in your bed. I'll talk you to sleep like I always do." She said with a slight laugh.

"How'd you know I wasn't in bed?" Naruto asked in a tone that sounded amused as he slowly stood and tilted his head to secure the phone against his shoulder. His hands quickly unbuckled his belt, letting his pants slide to the floor.

"You were sitting in that little black chair in your bedroom and you're drinking tequila. Just like you always do after a particularly rough case." She smirked as she placed her glass of water to her lips.

"It's creepy how you know me so well." He gave a light chuckle and tugged off his shirt. He crawled onto his bed, lying down on top of the sheets.

Sakura giggled gently in return, "Well after 11 years, you kinda get to know someone."

A smile spread across the tan features. "Thank you so much, Sakura. I really appreciate this."

"Oh! It's nothing! I was already up anyways." She shifted to fold her legs beneath her.

A bronze brow lifted, "At four-thirty in the morning?" He pulled a hand behind his head.

"Of course, I'm always up at this time."

"Sure..." The blonde paused before giving a sigh. "Thanks again, Sakura. I think I can get some sleep now."

"You do that. I'll talk to you later okay? Bye"

"Definitely will do, bye" He said and clasped his phone shut. He placed it on his nightstand and laid back, staring up at the ceiling. With another sigh, he allowed his lids to slide close. As always, he was plagued with the lurid images and feelings that refused to be buried with the past. He grunted and shoved them away until sleep claimed him peacefully.

--------------------------

It had been a rough day in the morgue as the blonde had expected. Cutting open children is never easy. He had gotten enough evidence to send that sad excuse for human flesh to prison though. That made a proud grin slide across his face as he washed the blood from his tools.

He grinned at the coolers in which he had placed the bodies after their examination. "You guys'll get your's... at least a little bit."

He shook his hands and walked to his locker, opening it up. He slid his jacket over his arms and put his gun holster back on. Ever since a run-in with a bitter relative of a victim, he'd made sure he had some protection on him at all times. Losing your life over a case wasn't going to get it done.

"Hey, Naruto." Came a low voice from behind the blonde.

Naruto turned, instantly recognizing the voice. "Hiya, Kakashi, I just finished up in there and I'll have the reports on your desk as soon as I straighten out the details."

"That's fine and all, but..." The grey-haired man scanned the tanned face. The deep, purple rings beneath the younger man's eyes were more prominent than usual. "I figured that after such a rough case, you'd like to go for a drink...maybe some dinner with a couple of friends?"

A grin slid over the blonde's features. "Actually, I think that ain't such a bad idea."

Both men turned and left the room, strolling through the clean, white hallways chatting away about random things going on in the building. They turned a corner and walked out the glass doors out to the front.

Naruto turned from locking the door. "Where're we goin'? The usual?"

Kakashi rolled his shoulders and replied, "Kiba wanted a change of scenery this time. McAllister's off of Lakeland good for you?"

"That's fine with me," Naruto said as he rolled his keys through his hand. "That's right in front of Dogwood, right?"

"Yeah, and right beside the Logan's, you can't miss it. You'll be sure to see the green lights."

"Alright." Naruto gave the man a parting wave as they both headed to their respective cars.

His feet crunched on the gravel as he made his way to his orange '70 Shelby. He unlocked the door and climbed in, closing the door to his side. The keys jingled as he pulled out the black-coated one and stuck it into the ignition. He pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the road, making his way towards Grants Ferry.

He turned his radio up, Rock 93.9 blaring through his speakers. He snickered at the replay of the early-morning antics of Brad Stevens and Ginger G before it cut back to the music. He gave a small whoop as Red's 'Breathe into Me' came on, and he cranked his volume up. Music never failed to calm his nerves.

The sun had turned the clouds a cotton-candy pink and the sky lightly changed from yellow to purple, fading to blue in the middle. The tall pines became pitch-black silhouettes against the darkening sky. He glanced up to marvel at this and wished that he had brought his camera. He always seemed to lack it when the sky was beautiful like this.

Shortly after, he was turning into the parking lot of McAllister's and was stepping out of the car, the chilled wind nipping at his exposed skin. He locked it before trudging up to the door and stepping in.

The building was warm and seemed larger than it was thanks to the mirrors on the opposing walls. He looked around at the many Italian and French posters on the walls and the food replicas displayed on the shelves. He spotted Kiba's group during his survey and waved at them from the line he was soon in.

After ordering a McAllister's Club with a Coke, he walked with the drink to sit at the table with Kiba, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Chouji.

Shikamaru and Chouji were police partners that commonly worked on scenes that Naruto and Kiba were assigned to. They became part of the group as they were just as much in need of 'decompression' as the actual medical examiners.

Naruto set down his number and sat by Kiba. As the others continued their light conversation, he broke the seal of his straw after hitting it on the table and pulled the plastic out with his teeth. He poked it through the hole in the top of the cup and took a long sip.

"So, Naruto, how's it goin'?" Shikamaru asked with his usual dull gaze.

"S'alright... and you?" Naruto replied, leaning on an elbow.

"Ahh... pretty rough...but not as rough as your case last night."

"Yeah...." Cerulean irises dimmed and slid to stare at the carbonated bubbles rising in his drink. "But, that guy's gonna get some major time... so... in the end... the dead win again." He added with a brighter expression.

"Damn right!" Kiba chimed in, punching the blonde in the shoulder.

More chatter followed, Naruto joined in, already temporarily forgetting his ordeal. They discussed how their favorite teams were doing, what the plans were for the weekend, the food, anything that came to the table.

Naruto thanked the teen that had brought him his sandwich. He ate it quickly, having not had breakfast and forgetting to grab lunch.

"Shit, Naruto, how can you eat so much and not look like Chouji here?" Kiba grinned with a thumb jabbed towards their chubby friend.

"I guess I'm just a human garbage-disposal." Naruto replied as he took the leftovers from Shikamaru's plate, knowing the brunette wouldn't eat them.

After another hour of small talk, Naruto's phone buzzed.

His expression quickly darkened as he flipped open his phone and looked at the screen, "Hello? .... ...yeah... ...shit... ....alright... we'll be there." He clicked it shut and looked sternly at Kiba. "We got another case tonight."

"Ah, damn... what is it?" Kiba frowned slightly.

"A suicide."

"Wonderful." Kiba said sarcastically as he stood up, pulling his jacket on as Naruto did the same.

They exchanged quick goodbyes with everyone at the table before they quickly left the restaurant.

A heavy sigh left the blonde's mouth as he started up his car. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. One tragic death after another... and it was a suicide... even better. The blonde sat back and rubbed his face with his hands.

The place was a resident's house in the Bay Park community, right off the Ross Barnett Reservoir. It didn't take him long to get there as it was just down Grants Ferry. He pulled up in the crowded driveway and turned his ignition off. He hesitated before getting out and pulling his bag from the trunk, slamming it closed. The lights from the police cars and ambulance bounced off the house and the few neighbors that were standing in their yards to inspect the scene.

He walked through the well-kept yard and into the equally well-kept house. Had this been any normal situation, Naruto would have admired how nice and neat everything looked. As it was, he kept walking to where the body was located, in the bathroom.

Kiba left the small room to give Naruto space to get in. "You didn't even give me time to make notes, jeez." The brunette gave a small sigh.

"Well pull out your notepad now and take these notes." Naruto said over his shoulder as he pulled on his gloves after having set his bag down near the toilet. He carefully pulled the shower curtain further back, not wanting to disturb anything too much. His knees popped quietly as he kneeled to get a better look at the victim.

"Male... dark-haired... possibly early to mid-twenties... suicide... deep, diagonal incisions on both forearms..." He leaned further forward as he gently grabbed the chin to tilt the face towards him, completely ignoring the rest of the naked body for now.

He froze as the long bangs fell away to expose the face. The man had creamy pale skin, even if it was clammier from blood-loss, which completely contrasted with the dark, inky-black hair. He was... beautiful.

"He hasn't reached rigor mortis... hasn't been dead long..." He let the head droop back to its original position, the dark bangs falling back to hide the young man's face. "Go get the bag, let's get him out of here."

As Kiba left, Naruto continued to look the other man over while shoving back the twinges of his own old, painful memories. He pulled out the small police report one of the officers had handed him as he had walked through the door. His eyes drifted over it, reading the young man's name.

"Uchiha... Sasuke... huh?" He mouthed the name again, enjoying how it felt on his tongue. The page flipped back to its original place as he released it to set the board on the sink before looking back at his most recent patient. "Shame someone as gorgeous as you had to do this to yourself." He spoke softly to the dark haired man as his gloved fingers wrapped around the pale, slender wrist, lifting it up to inspect it. The angry red lines screamed at him, telling him of the failure and isolation that the body they marred felt. The same familiar gashes that seemed so welcome years ago.

"Why'd you go and do something like this? ... ...Sasuke..." As he said this, the fingers of the hand in his grasp twitched and curled before a short raspy gulp of air shook the pale form.

Naruto dropped the wrist as he leaped back, eyes wide with shock. Bodies may jerk, but they didn't take gasps _for_ air. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he scrambled to his feet and shouted into the hallway. "He ain't dead!!"

The sound of many stomping feet met his ears as his gaze returned to the man who was supposed to be dead in the tub.

TBC!!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Naruto.

A/N: Second chapter of a multi-chapter I started over a year ago. I have it up everywhere but here, heh. I do not have any plans for the third chapter as of yet, the ones I had got completely changed. So please no pressuring for a third chapter. I'll do it when I get the inspiration.

Inspired from a book i chose to read for Eng AND the song "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx AM...mostly from the book though. PLUS i wanted to write something from my own region's point of view, yes? instead of somewhere I've NEVER personally been. So welcome, y'all, to Mississippi. :B If the accents bother you, I'm sorry, it's a part of the culture.

(interesting note: I wrote the first part of this chapter while going through the same issues myself. Yay hangovers.)

**Warning for violent scenes and suicide themes. **Also there will be yaoi-themes later in this story. Not so much in the first two chapters though.

* * *

Naruto rolled over, switching sleeping positions for the hundredth time that night. It was all that damned alcohol's fault. He had drank it until he smiled, until he slurred, until it burned. It was a horrible mistake that seemed like a wonderful idea at the time.

He hadn't vomited his guts out yet, but man, did he want to.

Instead, he had simply leaned, arms splayed, over the toilet. A string of thick saliva was the only liquid that would leave his mouth.

He gave up after god knows how long. Everything seemed to last forever after he'd reached this state of sudden and deep regret of what he'd done. He'd completely lost track of time, but he really didn't give a flying fuck.

Now, he was finally fighting off the nausea. His limbs still felt numb and jelly-like. His head still swam after too much movement, but he could finally focus on something other than his own self-induced misery.

He didn't bother with calling Sakura. First of all, he didn't know what time it was. Reaching to turn his alarm clock around was too much work. This was also true with reaching for his cell phone, making that his second reason. His final reason was that'd she'd pitch a bitch-fit over him doing this to himself. He was way too sick to want to deal with that.

However briefly, the thought entered his mind that maybe he should have called her instead of ending up like this... wishing that he could just chop off his head. Jose had been easier to get a hold of though and, alas, led him to his current condition.

He rolled onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes. His mind brought fuzzy images of why the hell he'd needed Senior Cuervo in the first place.

That guy... that beautiful lump of lost hope. He'd done this. But how?

Naruto had worked plenty of suicide cases before. Every one of them yanked up horrible memories that were still rooted in the blonde's gray matter. Maybe it was because this one survived, this one didn't succeed...

_...this one reached for him._

Wheat-colored brows furrowed under the muscled arm.

He had been standing there, gaping like a fish out of water, as they toted the pale, lithe form out on a gurney. And that arm, that marred yet smooth, crimson-stained arm had lifted when it wasn't supposed to. The hand had stretched open when it wasn't supposed to. The parted lid hanging heavily over the sole, deep, ebony iris was locked onto him, begging him.

A loud, sharp noise broke the silence in the room as the young man lying prone in the bed, slapped his hands over his face. He didn't want to remember that. It was too similar, too similar to a look a brunette held long ago, it was too similar to a feeling that the blonde had felt all those years ago.

--------------------------

A slap of papers on his desk brought a dark eye up to regard two blue ones.

"I finished them. Here they are like I said." Naruto said with a grin.

Kakashi sat back, adjusting the patch over a hole that was void of an eye for as long as Naruto could remember. "Ah, good. That should be the final piece we need to put that bastard away."

The grin featured on the tan face widened. "Awesome," he said as he turned to walk out of the small office. The voice behind him continued, stopping him in his tracks.

"Naruto, I heard about last night. If you need to talk--"

"I'll be fine. No need to worry," the blonde interrupted, turning just so the gray-haired man got a glimpse of a freckled nose.

Kakashi sighed, "Alright, just know I'm here. Have a good afternoon."

"You too," Naruto exited with a wave.

--------------------------

"Naruto! Why didn't you call me sooner!?" came a shrill voice into the bronzed ear.

Naruto tugged the orange T-shirt down and propped his feet up on the small ottoman before replying, "I didn't wanna bother you."

"Naruto... you're never a bother. Besides, this was no normal case." Sakura huffed, "I can tell you're more worked up about it then you're letting on."

"Wasn't it? And I'm fine. I just needed to discuss somethin' with you." He scratched at his jaw, the stubble prickly against his fingers. He'd been too busy finishing his report this morning to worry with fighting the razor.

A deep sigh came from the other side, "No, it wasn't. Now what do you want to talk about?"

"Why can't I get him out of my head?" Naruto said as he reclined back further into the chair.

"Ah hah! You _are_ affected!" Sakura bounced in her seat.

"Yeah, yeah.," Naruto snirked. "Just tell me why every time I let my mind wander, he turns up. I'm used to seein' my victims' faces... but not like this. Besides... he's alive... so why do I... ...I dunno how to word it.." He gave an exasperated sigh.

"I understand you," she said, then paused as she thought. "Maybe if you talk to him you can figure it out, get over it... or something..."

"Maybe..." Naruto repeated, running his fingers through his hair. "Could you come with me?"

Sakura laughed lightly, "Naruto, I'm still at work, remember? I'm just on my break. I don't have flexible hours like you."

"Heh, helps when you're practically your own boss." He grinned at the thought but then the expression quickly faded. "But yeah, sorry."

"It's alright, I need to get going though. You take care. Bye."

"Mm, you too, bye." Naruto flipped his Motorola shut and set it on his chest.

He scratched at his groin then picked his phone back up to look at the time. "Two-forty, hmm." His head fell back against the chair.

Blue eyes scanned over the inverted view of his small apartment. He stared at his Three Days Grace poster for a while, though he didn't really acknowledge its existence. "...goddammit." with a deep sigh, Naruto sat up and pulled his Levis back on. He fastened his belt and tugged his blue Nike-wannabes on.

He leaned on his arms, resting on his knees, and ran another hand through the tussled golden locks before standing up. He tucked his cell phone into his jean pocket. Then he walked out the door, grabbing his keys from the nail in the wall. He left his jacket. Mississippi weather decided it was time for a nice, balmy day....eve if it was the middle of December.

--------------------------

"Sasuke Uchiha's room, please."

"Are you a family member or a friend?" the nurse at the desk replied, not looking up.

"Come on, Shizune, you know who I am." Naruto spoke from where he was leaned over the counter.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't even see you," the woman said with a breathy laugh.

"Too busy with your nose in your computer, I know."

"Oh, shush, Naruto. He's down that way, three doors down that hall to your right."

"Now you're gettin' rid of me? What happened to 'Hello, how are you, Naruto?'" A sly smile slithered across the blonde's face.

"Hi... bye..." she gave a slight wave, not moving her eyes from the monitor.

"Tch, fine, I see how you're gonna be," Naruto faux-frowned and stood back from the desk, heading down the hallway.

His tennis shoes squawked on every other step on the plain white linoleum as he made his way down the hall. The walls were a dull blue, somewhat pleasing to the eye and adding a bit of color to the otherwise white sterile environment. He peeked into the open doors of the other rooms as he passed, catching glimpses of the patients in them that were either snoozing or watching their televisions.

He stopped in front of the third door to his right. _'4346'_ A nervous sigh passed through his lips as his eyes scanned the dark stained wood door in front of him. What was he doing here? This guy didn't even know him... and it's not like he'd recognize him from last night. _'Hi, you don't know me... but I can't get you out of my head. Tell me why.'_ He scoffed. Yeah, _that _wouldn't come out weird.

He was just about to grab the knob when the door opened and a pair of busty breasts nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Ah! Oh, Naruto, it's you."

Naruto staggered back, "Jeez, watch where you swing those things, Granny."

Tsunade gave an indignant huff, "I can swing them where I damn please, brat. And you know I despise that nickname."

Naruto chuckled in return, "No matter how much silicone you pump into your skin, it ain't gonna change your age, old hag."

A twitch of the older woman's eye told him to stop while he was ahead. She cleared her throat, "_Any_way, What're you doing here?"

Naruto looked down then back up at her, "I really don't know."

"Weren't you called when they found him?" She gestured behind her at the now closed door.

"Yeah, I was the one who found out that this one wasn't comin' with me."

Tsunade smiled gently, "I guess you savin' his life gives you enough of a reason to be here."

"Maybe," Naruto scratched at his ear and moved his gaze down to the floor.

"Well, you're lucky he's up. I told him to get more rest, but he's damn stubborn." She shifted the clipboard with the man's information on it from one hand to the other.

Naruto laughed, "Sounds like someone else you know."

"Yeah," She laughed too, "So, make it quick. I want him to sleep." With a flick to his nose she brushed past him and headed down the hall towards the nurse's station.

Rubbing at his nose, Naruto watched her leave before turning back to the door. His stomach seemed to be doing acrobatics in his gut, his heart pounding against his ribcage. He huffed out breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and quickly opened the door. The smell of IV fluid and a stronger scent of the hospital hit his nostrils before he turned, quietly closing the door behind him. When he turned back around, the lights and soft beeping from the machines attached to the body just on the other side of the curtain caught his eyes.

Pulling in another deep breath, Naruto walked around the curtain and over to the end of the bed and looked up.

He wasn't met with the same piercing, ebony irises he'd seen last night. Instead, he only saw the pale lids they were hiding behind. He swallowed thickly as his eyes moved from the splayed sable locks that framed the serene, expression the young man was wearing. The azure orbs slowly took in the rest of the male. Bandages covered the evidence from the night before and the creamy flesh that had been dull and clammy looked creamy and healthier, if possible, he was even more stunning.

A quick intake of breath through nostrils and Naruto was finally met with the dark pools that had stained his thoughts since their first encounter.

"Um... hi," the blonde gave a light wave and a nervous chuckle, "Er... my name is Naruto. I'm the coroner that was called to your house last night."

Silence was the only reply. Nothing flickered behind the stony gaze of the two black irises.

A tanned hand was drug nervously through sunny locks. "Um...well... I was just wonderin' how you were feelin' today."

The other's eyes flicked to the side and back.

The uneasy feeling that had been festering since he grabbed the door knob strangled Naruto. He had known this was going to be awkward... just not _this_ awkward. He wanted to yell, holler, run out of the room, _anything_ to make this deafening silence go away.

"Uhh...well anyway...Why'd y--"

"Why's it matter?" A raspy voice snapped through his sentence. The voice came from the body he'd thought to be mute, ahead of the blonde.

"....What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

The raven-haired male snorted and quickly averted his gaze.

Sapphire orbs watched him, waiting for Sasuke to finish. He didn't even begin to.

"Well...you didn't try to kill yourself for fun, now did ya?" Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and cocked his head, rocking once on the balls of his feet.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but stayed on the floor to the side of his bed. "...You wouldn't understand..." His voice was soft, almost a murmur.

Muscled arms folded and Naruto smiled gently, "I'd understand a lot better than you think..."

A snide smirk slid across the raven's lips and he straightened up slightly. Dark orbs moved back to regard the tanned body standing at the end of his bed. "Did they send the psychiatrist early this time?" His gaze darkened as he narrowed his eyes, "Why can't you just wait 'til I get to Whitfield?"

Naruto's arms lowered, his brow furrowed, and a frown tugged at his lips. "...I just wanted to know." He steadied his voice, but the sound still came out forced.

"Why? So you can 'save me?'" The other male relaxed back against his pillows. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not the first to try this bullshit on me. So, just do us both a favor and just forget about me and leave." He sunk further down and closed his eyes, indicating the conversation was over.

But Naruto disagreed...

"I can't forget about you. That's the problem." Tanned arms hung loosely at his sides as he gazed down at the man below him. "One night... and you're stuck in my memories... I want to know why..."

"Hn," The simple reply came immediately and it stung. Naruto lost the hold he had on his emotions that, he only just realized, he was holding back.

"Now look here, bastard!" Naruto slammed his hands down on the plastic footboard of the bed, startling the male lying in it, "You may think you're the only one who's gone through this shit! You may think you're the only fuckin' one who's ever felt like endin'... like it's the only way out! You may even think that there's no one that wants to help you or that there's no _way_ to help your stupid ass! But you're wrong! Oh..._god_ you're wrong!"

Dark eyes looked up, slightly widened. They watched as a tear ran a whiskered cheek, completely unnoticed by its owner.

"I've seen it with my own fuckin' eyes! Every way they came: hangin's, cuttin', drownin', self-inflicted gunshots, burnin' themselves alive... you name it, I've fuckin' seen it! People from every single walk of this hell we call life. Successful business men, mothers, nursing home patients, pre-teens, college students..." He drug in a shaky breath. "So don't act like I don't have a goddamn clue what I'm talkin' about! I know how it feels to look at the razor in your hand, the gun-barrel to your head, the river flowing beneath you and thinkin', 'If I just end it now, it'll all be better. No more pain, no more loneliness, no more feelin' like you're just a waste of human flesh.' I know, goddammit, I know!"

Naruto stopped, panting, as he tried to catch his breath in shuddering gasps. His knuckles had gone white from the grip he had on the foot board; his cheeks were soaked from the tears that were caused by the many different feelings that had been stirred up. Blue eyes shown, almost purple, in their fierce gaze they held on the dark haired man lying beneath them.

Sasuke didn't reply, he didn't say a word. He just sat there and stared. Whether he was waiting on Naruto continue or didn't know what to say... the blonde didn't care that he was silent, he wasn't fucking done anyway.

"So you just tell me what the hell possessed you to fall into the same path as all those people. If you don't want any fucking help, _so be it_. I won't give you any fucking help. I just want to know." Naruto seethed. He kept his gaze steady on the creamy-skinned man, waiting on his reply.

The one that never came.

The blonde's stomach churned. The stupid bastard just laid there, staring at him. Those goddamn eyes had gone back to their expressionless state and were watching him, just as intently, while their owner continued to stay mute.

Silence hung heavily around them. Smothering out everything else but the steady beep of the machines.

"Fine... just... fucking... fine..." Naruto stood there wiping at his nose. "You just stay locked in that shell of your's. I don't give a fuck. I don't even know you...Why should I care?" He walked briskly from the room, slamming the door behind him. His hands were stuffed into his pockets as he marched past the nurse's desk, ignoring the wave from Tsunade.

--------------------------

Cobalt gleamed faintly in the moonlight that seeped between the blinds of a window. A swarthy hand gripped at his forehead as Naruto lay sprawled out in his chair. His unfocused gaze lay on an exposed foot, laying on the foot rest just past the deep red of cotton boxers.

Here he had been since he had returned. He knew sleep would evade him for awhile and had decided that staring blankly into space in his favorite chair was a better alternative to staring at the ceiling.

As he sat, naturally, thoughts whirled in a droning pace. He allowed each one to run its course then it lead to another and another, all of which were effectively going in scrambled circles. His languid state gave consent to even the harsher thoughts, painful memories, however, his enfeebled mind was also too fogged to acknowledge anything, externally or internally.

The phone on his table had rung about twenty times before sh auditory nerves even picked up on the sound.

Naruto slowly picked up the vibrating mechanism, glancing at the screen as he flipped it open and then placed it against his ear.

"Hello?" Came the slow, drawled-out greeting.

"Hey, bud, got a case we need you at: The Shell gas-station on Spillway Road. Looks like a homicide." Kiba replied.

"Alright...be there in a bit..." Naruto went to close his phone.

"Hey! ...what's wrong?"

A sigh passed through russet lips, "It's nothing, I'm good." He said with a forced, cheery tone.

"Oh, okay, just worried about ya." Kiba sighed but pushed past it. "Well... see ya there."

"Bye." Naruto jerked his phone closed and stood, running a hand across his chest and up to rub on his nape. He glanced out the window, then bent over to grab his pants and started getting dressed.

--------------------------

Naruto passed by the busy police, heading straight towards the spiked brunette hair. He carried his bag at his side, the strap pressed into his shoulder, his hands pressed into his pockets. The night had taken a nose dive in temperature.

"Ah, Naruto, they're right over here." Kiba turned and led Naruto past the broken glass doors.

The metallic scent of blood instantly assaulted his nostrils as they turned past the cases of Budweiser. He looked down at where they stopped, two bodies were lying face down in their own blood.

"The store clerk and the clean-up kid." The brunette behind him clarified. "They were closing it down when two guys broke in, killed them, and emptied the safe. They timed it just right; the clerk had just started counting down the register."

"Damn," Naruto replied and knelt down. He pulled his bag from his shoulder and opened it up. Pulling out his normal tools and snapping on his gloves. He began his work on the bodies.

He pulled lightly on the fabric surrounding the giant gashes on both victims' backs. "These cuts are deep... and it looks like a highly serrated edge was used... do they have any suspects yet?"

A low voice from behind him stated, "We do,"

Naruto whipped his head around, golden locks stirring. He looked up into the pale eye above him, "Oh, hi Nejjers, you're working this case?"

Neji frowned slightly at the name, "Yes, it's been mine and Lee's assigned case for a while now."

The blonde arched a brow, "A while now?"

"Yes, we have the evidence to connect this murder to a series of ones that have been happening in this area for a couple of years now." The brunette replied.

Kiba interjected before Naruto could ask, "Who's the guy then? Do you know?"

"It's a gang. Our witnesses tell us they're called 'Akatsuki.'" Neji cleared his throat and continued. "We only know the names of a few members, but supposedly there's ten of them. That's about all we know about them so far."

Naruto turned his gaze back to the bodies beneath him.

"That would be the work of Kisame Hoshigaki." The cool voice made it sound like Kisame was some sort of artist in a gallery downtown.

"Who're the others you know?" Kiba kept his questioning gaze on the other brunette who was leering down at Naruto.

"Sasori and Deidara. No last names given. And an Itachi Uchiha." Neji replied.

A tremor shot down Naruto's spine as his heart jumped at the sound of the name. His head snapped around, eyes wide and his hand tightening around the tweezers clutched between his fingers. "W-what was that last name?"

TBC eventually


End file.
